Peterson is a fit 83 but she needed every bit of strength to stay afloat while under attack by a rabid enraged animal.

Peterson almost lost a thumb and suffered serious injuries to her arm and leg.

“I just kept hitting it with my walking stick trying to hit it in the eyes,” she says.

Wednesday night, she is recovering and will undergo a round of rabies shots.

Police say Peterson was treated for non-life threatening injuries at Inova Fairfax Hospital, while the beaver was euthanized. After a series of tests, Fairfax County Police officials said that the beaver tested positive for the rabies virus.

According to health officials, rabies is spread through the saliva of an infected animal and can attack the spinal cord and brain of humans and other warm-blooded animals. People who are infected may not present symptoms until several weeks after being bitten.